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What is Apartheid? Bingo!https://awakenwest.wordpress.com/2011/03/13/what-is-apartheid-bingo/
https://awakenwest.wordpress.com/2011/03/13/what-is-apartheid-bingo/#respondSun, 13 Mar 2011 22:36:28 +0000http://awakenwest.wordpress.com/?p=117]]>Criticizing Israel is not wrong, in fact, go to Israel and you will find a ton of people who criticize Israel openly and for various reasons. The problem arises when people harshly label Israel with titles like ‘Apartheid State’ without first looking at the reality within Israel and also without applying an equally critical eye to the surrounding regions and countries in the Middle-East. Below is only one example of what I mean. These statements made by Abbas hardly stir up any attention while there is an entire week devoted to ‘Israeli Apartheid’. This is a double standard.

One complaint came from a community member Rabbi Hoch in November when former British MP George Galloway spoke at York University. In an email to York’s President, Rabbi Hoch addressed his concern about “the tolerance [that was being displayed] for anti-Semitism and the lack of vigilance regarding the feeling of safety for Jewish students on campus.” York’s response was a threat to sue Rabbi Hoch if he did not retract his statements and issue an apology for defaming York’s President’s name. Alex Bilyk, a university spokesperson reassured the public that York “does not tolerate any racism or anti-Semitism on our campus.” Yet students at York approach me frequently to tell me that as a Christian I should hate Jews and not partner with them. I hear this kind of statements all year round, but people become most vocal when tensions are high on campus.

On the ground, student leaders were actively trying to raise their concerns about the Galloway event with the president of the York Federation of Students, Krishna Saravanamuttu, who was fined in 2009 for promoting anti-Semitism. Saravanamuttu ignored the emails. The student government sponsored Galloway event was not inclusive or representative of the student body and instead ‘educated’ students about only one side of the already heated political debate. Frustrated by the lack of response from the student government, students protested outside the event. After the Galloway event, a fight almost broke out as a small group of students, lead by Saravanamuttu, was instigating the protestors. The police asked Saravanamuttu and his friends to leave.

For the past six years, Israel Apartheid Week, held annually in March, has been a contentious event on the York campus. In a letter to the administration sent in December 2010, a contract faculty professor, Judith Cohen stated that Israel ‘Apartheid’ Week “has led to serious divisions among students – and, though perhaps less apparent, among staff and faculty as well.” The purpose of Dr. Cohen’s letter was to encourage York to promote respectful dialogue and academic integrity by changing the name of Israel ‘Apartheid’ Week to something more neutral and less biased. The V-P of Students, Robert Tiffin, responded that York has been promoting civil dialogue through “a number of initiatives, including Inclusion Day last October and the Committee for Campus Dialogue, chaired by Dr. David Leyton-Brown, which is working closely with the Centre for Human Rights to develop programming to promote civility and sensitivity.” While these efforts are good initiatives, it is unclear if they reach the students involved in Israel ‘Apartheid’ Week. In her letter Professor Cohen also mentioned that “there have been cases of verbal and even physical assaults on Jews on campus. In fact both Jewish and non-Jewish students have expressed concerns for their safety, as have some of my colleagues and some graduate students.” This fact was not addressed in VP Tiffin’s response. The existing discrimination against and fear among Jewish students on campus seems to be the elephant in the room.

As president of Christians United For Israel on Campus, I wrote a letter to the administration raising my concerns and also included statements from over a dozen students. In one statement, Afroza Mohammed, a 4th year student wrote that “as a neutral student, none of what happens during rallies and protests, especially during Israeli Apartheid Week, makes me feel like I am safe on campus or that York University is a tolerant and accepting university. Israel Apartheid Week makes me feel like York and the York communities are unable to, in a mature way, have a conversation about this conflict without leaving students feeling abused, hurt, unsafe and ignored.” Students from different backgrounds- South African, Sri Lankan, Hispanic, Israeli, Ghanaian, Christian, Jewish and secular– wrote similar statements. Students expressed feeling unsafe on campus; witnessing “bigotry, hate, ignorance and intolerance’ and feeling singled out and discriminated against. The question arises, how can students hold discussions about Middle-Eastern politics in a civil and respectful manner without the intimidation, hate speech and threat of violence that currently exists?

A verbal reassurance that York does not tolerate anti-Semitism, racism or speech that advocates hate is insufficient. A community member, a professor and several students’ experiences prove that these exist and are tolerated on campus already. Getting the York administration to acknowledge this reality and address it is the first step to creating any real change on campus.

In February 2011, the news media reported that the screening of the controversial documentary, “Iranium”, had been banned in Ottawa due to pressures and threats from the Islamic Republic of Iran’s Embassy. Despite all the threats, the documentary was shown in two different places such as Archives Canada in Ottawa and York University in Toronto and many citizens including students lined up to come up with their own opinions . The fact that this documentary made the Islamic Republic of Iran’s Embassy concerned is a disclosure of the true face of this brutal government to procure nuclear weapons, its support of terrorism, and its violations of the basic human rights of the Iranian people during 31 years of its existence. But the most shocking aspect was; how is it possible that an embassy of a foreign government (that being Iran) that is isolated in the international arena and has the highest number of opponents among its citizens (within Iran and abroad) can exert its control over the Canadian Government?

The documentary shows the inhuman treatment of regime’s opponents by police forces and interviews politicians and analysts. Also it shows the montage of Islamic Republic officials’ speeches, including Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the Holocaust denier president that “we will not give up a single iota of our nuclear rights.” But it is obvious that this regime refers to nuclear weapons as so-called “nuclear rights.” When the Islamic Republic of Iran was established in 1979, its leader Khomeini mentioned that the United States of America must be destroyed and referred to Israel as a cancer tumor which must also be destroyed. These threatening statements by the leaders of the Islamic Republic of Iran have been continued until today under the government of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Ahmadinejad has openly declared that “Israel must be wiped off the world map.” These statements completely make clear that the Islamic Republic of Iran is seeking nuclear weapons rather than a peaceful nuclear program and without permission, they force their sinister desire upon the Iranian people and they say that this is the wish of Iranians. But the fact is that Iranians have been suffering under poverty with violations of their basic rights and the last thing that they care about is nuclear weapons because the money that belongs to Iranian families has been spent in Palestine, Lebanon, Syria, and other countries to support terrorist groups and Islamic extremists such as Hamas and Hezbollah.

The Canadian government has to understand that the Islamic Republic of Iran and its supporters in Canada are a threat to the safety of Canadian society and the embassy of the Islamic Republic of Iran plays an important role in this matter. This regime and its supporters are trying to take over the Canadian laws and regulations for their own sinister desires. As well, since the Canadian Federal government has condemned human rights abuses of the Islamic Republic of Iran at various times, therefore, there will be a desire by this regime to take revenge against Canada due to the isolation that Canada has provided. Also it was by the trained terrorists of the Islamic Republic of Iran embassies that many Iranian opponents of this regime including political activists and artists were murdered throughout the world. Dr. Shapour Bakhtiar the prime minister of the previous regime was one of those victims. Thus, this threat now exists in Canada for Iranian dissidents of this regime.

As Iranian-Canadian citizens and opponents of the Islamic Republic of Iran, it is very concerning to see the growing increase in number of pro-Islamic Republic of Iran’s agents and supporters in Canadian society.
Sara Akrami
Founder and President of the Human Rights Activists Association at

York University-Canada

Filed under: Iran's Regime]]>https://awakenwest.wordpress.com/2011/03/08/the-true-face-of-iran%e2%80%99s-brutal-government/feed/0awakenwestIraniumYork U’s “balance” on Israel/Palestine means teaching students about “Israeli Apartheid”https://awakenwest.wordpress.com/2011/02/27/york-us-balance-on-israelpalestine-means-teaching-students-about-israeli-apartheid/
https://awakenwest.wordpress.com/2011/02/27/york-us-balance-on-israelpalestine-means-teaching-students-about-israeli-apartheid/#respondSun, 27 Feb 2011 21:31:09 +0000http://awakenwest.wordpress.com/?p=73]]>While this article made a mistake about the date and this event actually occured last year in 2010, I found this interesting. While acedemics believe that moving politics into the classroom is the best place to creating a better environment at York, this solution is problematic if it only allows voice to one perspective. I would like to give them the benefit of the doubt that they perhaps really are clueless to the fact that they are unbalanced. This only reinforces my point that they need to become more aware of the different perspectives and start taking this issue much more seriously to identify where they are helping and where they are making things worse.

The problem is that York’s critics are incredibly vocal and very clear about what York is doing that is problematic, if only the University would take these criticisms more seriously instead of brushing them off and justifying their decisions on every turn.

Ahmadinejad plays the role of a cool, calm and collected ‘academic’ who desires free academic inquiry and who cares for the rights and freedoms of Palestinians. This facade is laughable in light of his own country in which these freedoms and rights do not exist.

If Iran had their way Israel would not exist. He is trying to minimize the attrocities that already occured in the Holocaust so that people will not care when he carries out his own plans to destroy Israel. This is how﻿ influencing public opinion starts. Have you ever wondered how humans could allow the holocaust to take place? Well, you are seeing it in action, besides the fact that he is denying the systematic killing and genocide of 6 million Jews through horrific and inhumane measures, Ahmadinejad is propogating the deligitimization and demonization of Jews.

The fact that Jews have a historical claim to the land and also that Jews have lived in Israel throughout history is denied. The lie that Israel is occupying Israel is another attempt to deligitimize Israel’s claim to their land. If you don’t know your facts, his ‘academic’ analysis might fool you. But forget the redherick and his false concern for human rights and look at the facts on the ground. The Palestinians are the only refugees in the history of the planet who have been refugees for 3 generations. In 2006 Israel withdrew from Gaza, giving up land for peace and since the withdrawal and cease fire 8000 rockets have been fired at innocent civilian populations in﻿ Israel, many of the rockets funded by Iran.

Furhtermore, the Arab league is the reason for the refugee problem in Israel. In 1948, the Arabs left Israel without ever seeing an Israeli soldier just because the Arab league made an announcement that they were going to wipe out Israel and push it into the sea and did not want Arabs to get caught up in the cease fire. Today no Arab country will take responsibility for the Arabs who are in Palestine. They refuse to accept their own people and thus the Palestinians remain refugees.

The Palestinians are not suffering at the hands of Israel. Gaza is the most well funded refugee population in the history of the world and yet in 60 years they are still as poor and oppressed as ever. Where is the money going? Palestinians are kept in their condition by Hamas and other terrorist organizations and used as a political pond to fool the rest﻿ of the world into sympathizing with extremists like Ahmadinejad. If Ahmajinejad was serious about Palestine being a state and self-determining, he would put pressure on Hamas and Hisbollah to drop their weapons and to stop hording the aid money for profit and instead invest in their population.

This video is propoganda that reflects Hitler’s strategy of blaming, demonizing and deligitimizing Jews.

Filed under: Standing With Israel]]>https://awakenwest.wordpress.com/2011/02/27/delegitimizing-and-demonizing-jews-first-steps-to-holocaust/feed/0awakenwestMeeting with Holocaust Survivor Asher Audhttps://awakenwest.wordpress.com/2011/02/27/meeting-with-holocaust-survivor-asher-aud/
https://awakenwest.wordpress.com/2011/02/27/meeting-with-holocaust-survivor-asher-aud/#respondSun, 27 Feb 2011 02:14:01 +0000http://awakenwest.wordpress.com/?p=65]]>How can I describe in words the reality of a world that I did not experience or live through and for which I have no point of reference? While I cannot describe this reality, on July 20th, 2010I met with a precious brother who can indeed describe what he experienced first hand surviving through the Holocaust. Asher Aud, which in Hebrew means survivor, shared his testimony of living in the ghettos and later in several concentration camps as a young Polish Jew. From where I was sitting I could see the mark of that era tatooed on his arm, a permanent reminder of the concentration camps.

Soon men and women, survivors of the Holocaust like Asher Aud will no longer be with us to share their account. Therefore it is a real privilege to have met with him and heard his story. His request and dare I say, his desperate plea with this generation is to speak out about the Holocaust and to keep the memory alive in order to make sure that this never happens again.

I call this a desperate plea because we currently live in a world in which the same ideologies that fuelled the Nazi regime are still prevalent in the Middle East and the rest of the world. With nuclear bombs in Iran and the Iranian President calling for the destruction of Israel on a daily basis. The Hamas constitution calls for the destruction of Israel. Jews and Christians are being persecuted and are fleeing or being killed in Arab countries.

So this plea to make sure a holocaust never happens again is not something that I take lightly. As a Canadian girl, it is difficult to imagine the realities of the Holocaust, because as I mentioned I have no point of reference. I have never been separated from my family forcefully, I have never witnessed a death, I have never been publicly humiliated, my identity has never been stripped from me, I have never been beaten, I have never starved, I have never been raped, I have never feared for my life, I have never been forced to perform back breaking tasks etc. These are the attrocities that more than 6 million people endured.

I am tempted to point fingers, but the reality is that the entire human population is responsible for letting this occur. Silence is what allows generations to be killed so brutally. And the truth is that this is STILL HAPPENING around the world, why aren’t we more concerned about this? Why are Canadians, Americans and all those who enjoy freedom and liberty not making efforts to liberate our brothers and sisters who are suffering?

These words are ringing in my ears: Tell people about what happened and to not let it happen again!